Survey Finds Only 11% of Organizations Are Ready for Digital Disruption

According to an AFP MindShift survey, a poll of 279 finance and treasury professionals found that just 11% believe their organization is “fully prepared” or “very prepared” for these new technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain and robotic process automation.

“The benefits of new technology for finance and treasury are clear: increased productivity, reduced costs and better decision-making,” says Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of the Association for Financial Professionals. “However, the challenges are just as clear: lack of control over technology, cybersecurity, company-wide consistency, maintaining employee skills and the potential loss of jobs.”

“When finance and treasury roles consider applying emerging technologies, such as robotics process automation and AI, to their processes, there are a number of attractive capabilities that can potentially transform the way they operate and enable their business to be more competitive,” says Leslie Chacko, director, Marsh & McLennan Companies Global Risk Center. “However, there are serious challenges and considerations in governance, talent strategy, cyber risk, and more that have to be very carefully considered. That said, ignoring these technologies isn’t an option.”